Tirol Panorama

A wide-angle view of history: this new, modern museum provides an impressive survey of Tirol’s turbulent history and its effect on the country and its people. The centrepiece of the museum is the gigantic panoramic painting known as the “Riesenrundgemälde”.

Innsbruck

This is something one has to see: a panorama painting measuring over 1,000 square metres and curved 360 degrees, depicting Tirolean freedom fighters battling against the Bavarians and the French in 1809 at Bergisel. This complicated form of painting was a popular one in the 19th and early 20th centuries, responding to the yearning for panorama views prevalent at the time and providing people with the illusion of moving images even before the invention of motion pictures: in order to appear three-dimensional, the images are distorted in their perspective. The “faux terrain”, an artificial landscape between the visitor and the painting, intensifies the impression of realism.

The new glass roof over the rotunda offers ideal lighting conditions, meaning that small details in the recently restored painting are now visible for the first time. In addition to the “Riesenrundgemälde” and the Tirolean Kaiserjägermuseum, the new museum also presents a permanent exhibition featuring impressive exhibits related to Tirol’s past and organized according to the topics of nature, man, religion, and politics. Finally: the name “Tirol Panorama” also refers, of course, to the splendid panoramic views one has from the museum of the Tirolean capital, the mountain peaks of the Nordkette, and the Inn Valley.